I’ve lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.
Fairbanks –> Anchorage (358 miles)
I had been staying at an Airbnb in fairbanks with an old couple, Dolly and Andrew, who’s kids had moved out. Dolly was an amazing host and made me biscuits and gravy, my favorite, for breakfast.
I had been trying to figure out what I was going to do in Fairbanks before heading to Anchorage. Andrew recommended I go down the road and visit Gold Dredge 8 where they do a tour and let you pan for gold. The tour starts at a section of the Alaskan Pipeline and then you hop on a train that takes you up to the old dredge.
Along the way they give you a thorough history of gold mining in the area.
Once we got to the dredge they explained how it worked and gave us a gold panning demonstration.
I hadn’t really noticed the demographics of everyone on the train until we got off to pan for gold. I’d say the average age was around 60 so I ended up talking with the employees. Most were on summer break from college.
I got skunked on my first bag of dirt. Luckily, they want everyone to have a good time and gave me another bag to pan. I ended up less gold flakes than you’d have crumbs on your plate after eating a sandwich. It amounted to about $11.
After panning, I head over to the dredge itself. It’s a pretty impressive piece of machinery. It housed everything you’d need to mine for gold including a machine shop incase any parts broke.
I had to skip out on the tour about the Alaskan Pipeline because it looked like it was about to rain. I started heading towards Anchorage and the highway was just what I expected, long and straight. I did have some nice mountain scenery once I started getting closer to Denali and the weather was nice.
When I made it into Denali I hit road construction where you have to wait for a pilot to guide you through the work site.
Once I passed Denali National Park the weather made a turn for the worse. I was still 4 hours from Anchorage. It’s too bad too, because I didn’t really get to enjoy the scenery all that much. Every now and then I’d get stopped at a construction site and be able to look around, but for the most part I was concentrated on the road.
It ended up raining the entire way from Denali to Anchorage. At one point I’m pretty sure it started hailing. It felt like ice needles were going into my shins. What should’ve taken me 6 hours took me 9 hours to finally reach Anchorage. I was cold and my hands were numb when I stopped at Taco Bell to call my friend, Bill, who I was going to be staying with. Unfortunately, I couldn’t feel my phone and dropped it when I tried to put it back in my pocket. I ended up shattering the LCD screen, but luckily Bill was on his way to guide me to his house and take me out for a few beers.
After riding three days in the rain I can say that it has broken my spirit a bit. It’s no fun being cold, wet and pretty much miserable. However, I still wouldn’t trade my bike in for a car anytime soon. Riding a motorcycle is the only way to see the world. I had the hardest time explaining this until I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Robert Pirsig put it’s best when he compares a road trip to a TV show. When you’re on a road trip in a car, you’re a passive participant in the show. It’s like sitting on the couch watching it through a TV screen. When you’re on a motorcycle you’re an active participant in the show. With this comes the good like the smell of fresh cut trees, an unobstructed view of the landscape, and a sense of danger and excitement. However, there’s also the bad like riding in the rain, the smell of manure, and the occasional scare riding through gravel.
Not only are you an active participant in your vacation, there’s a freeing sensation of being alone on your motorcycle. Sometimes it’s just you, your thoughts and the open road. In reality, you’re not really all that alone. I’ve met some amazing people and when you hop on a motorcycle you’re instantly apart of a fraternity. I’ve gotten more free beers talking to bikers at a campground than I’ve paid for myself. Not to mention, there’s nothing like chucking up the deuces to your fellow two wheeler.
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